There is his Afghan Girl next to his name, on the right, at the entrance of the Cavalier Gallery in Chelsea. She is his iconic trademark, his statement. On her right, there is a second shot–taken just a few seconds after the first one–where she covers her face with her hands letting only her eyes be seen.
Steve McCurry is one of the most popular photojournalists alive. Last night, February 22, he presented his new photobook, entitled Devotion, at the Cavalier Galleries, his exhibition, ongoing through March 9. Devotion is a collection of shots from different times and places to express any kind of devotion–for love, for religion, for passion, for work.
And so, between the pages, the brightest colors come to life with families hugging each other, a Buddhist monk kneeling on the ground, an old couple crossing the street relying on a walking stick, craftsmen showing their products from every corner of the world. This has always been the quintessence of his job. “It does not take courage, but endurance… Stamina,” Mr. McCurry smiled. Then he added, “waking up early, shooting in uncomfortable situations, it never weighs me down.”
Mr. McCurry traveled the world in search of “beauty and wonder amidst storms and conflict, the mundane and the historic, as an artist-documentarian of both the human spirit and the spirit of place”. The exhibition at Cavalier Gallery summarizes his forty-year-long career featuring 35 shots–and 15 more at the branch in Greenwich, Connecticut. The result is a melodic combination between portraits and landscapes from the 1980s to today.
The oldest is Dust Storm, taken in Rajasthan, India, in 1983, when a wall of dust blew from nowhere and this group of Indian girls huddled together trying to protect themselves with their golden-red veils. And the most recent is Himba Shepherds Take Their Goats to Graze, taken in Namibia during his last trip in 2023.
“I do not have a favorite, really. I like all of my works, I am proud of all of them,” Mr. McCurry said. Especially when asked about the two Afghan Girl portraits, he explained, “the audience choose their favorite and make them successful. I am only doing my job.” It is only a matter of exposure–the most popular one graced the cover of National Geographic in 1984, won a series of awards, and featured a documentary to find Sharbat Gula, the Pakistani protagonist, after 20 years.
Within a few minutes of opening, Devotion copies physically available were sold out–someone had even bought it online and brought it in to have it signed. Despite being packed with people, the gallery was strangely quiet: everyone was left speechless in front of McCurry’s works.
